This invention relates to a power operated rearview mirror assembly for a motor vehicle.
Motor vehicles include rearview mirror assemblies mounted externally on a vehicle on one or both front doors to help the driver see rearwardly of the vehicle. These rearview mirror assemblies typically have an adjustable mirror portion mounted therein that can be remotely controlled to be repositioned to accommodate different vehicle operators. Such rearview mirrors are remotely controlled from inside the vehicle by a mechanical connection or an electrical connection. Electrically powered actuators are frequently included in rearview mirror assemblies to reposition the mirror remotely in response to remotely controlled electrical signals. Such mirror assemblies are expensive and require extensive labor for fabrication.
To achieve the goals of reducing complexity, expense and labor for fabrication, there is disclosed and described herein a rearview mirror that includes a shape memory alloy to effect the repositioning of a mirror.
The rearview mirror includes a supporting assembly for attachment to a vehicle structure and a mirror assembly with a pivot structure between the assemblies for pivoting the mirror assembly relative to the supporting assembly about first and second perpendicular intersecting axes. A first electrically actuated moving mechanism pivots the mirror assembly relative to the supporting assembly and is characterized by including a temperature sensitive element consisting of an alloy which undergoes thermoelastic, martensitic phase transformation in response to heat and reacting between the assemblies for straining the element during a first phase and for unstraining the element during a second phase. Also included is a supply of electrical power for heating the element and causing the phase transformation of the element to unstrain the elementing thereof to move the mirror assembly relative to the supporting assembly.